Dream Theater ‘planting seeds’ for next album

Dream Theater frontman James LaBrie says the band are in the early stages of writing the follow-up to The Astonishing

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Dream Theater

Dream Theater frontman James LaBrie has revealed that the band are in the early stages of writing “pretty cool” material for what will be their 14th album.

But the follow-up to The Astonishing, which was released in January 2016, isn’t likely to arrive in the near future.

LaBrie tells Rockbook: “In 2018 we’re going to make a new album, and we’re pretty psyched because we already know what we’re going to do.

“It’s really important for us that the new album will be our best effort. It should be who we are at that particular moment. We want to create something that’s better than what we did before.

“We’re just planting seeds for now. We’re putting some stuff together. It’s pretty cool what’s happening. The real nuts and bolts aren’t going to happen until we’re done touring. Then we’ll go into a studio and be together every day, just to write songs.”

Asked whether they’re planning another concept album, he replies: “If we will, it’s not going to be any time soon. We waited for like 17 years between Scenes From A Memory and The Astonishing.

“I think for now it’s best for us to concentrate one album at a time, and not think in a concept. Unless we want to write an epic song that has multiple parts, like A Change Of Seasons. But a whole album again – no.”

Dream Theater recently completed tour dates that marked the 25th anniversary of their second album, Images And Words. LaBrie notes: “It gave us the platform to create what we wanted after that. It’s amazing, because we only did what we wanted to do in order to express ourselves. Fortunately for us, it became a success.”